Downspout of wood for gutters



Patented July 4, 1944 Neal T. MacKenzie, St. Paul, Minn., assignor` toGeneral'. Timber Service, Inc., St. Paul Minn., f a corporation ofDelaware Application October 8, 1942, Serial No. 461,243

i claims. (o1. 13s-2s),

Heretofore downspouts: constructed from wood.. have 'been subject to theobjection that they are' insufficiently`4 elastic and strong. towithstand freezing' conditions when they become filled with ice due to astoppage or to the gradual accumulation of ice on the interior surfaces.

`The .principal object of the present invention is to provide a novelconduit of this class which isl protected against the breakage resultingfrom such accumulations of ice by the provision ofl oompressible meansextending parallel to the Water passage and so llocated as to compensatefor the expansion of: ice in the water passage.

Other objects Will appear and be more fully pointed out in thevfollowing specification andclaims.

Referring to the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a crossA section through a Woodgut-V ter and'Y showingadjacent members of a.- building and my improved downspout Ipartiallyineleva--v tion and -partially in central, longitudinal" section, takenon they lin-e'v I--I Iofv Fig. 2;

Fig; 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 ofV Fig. 1, and with a portionof the front wall o theV downspout removed;

my improved downspout,"

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section through a sho-rt, straight length ofthe spout which may be readily cut in thev eld' as an' insert to providefor installations where the eaves overhang Various distances relative tothe walls of the building or for other purpose, and

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional View showing an alternate type ofcompressible means for relieving pressure on the louter walls when thecontents of the water passage freezes.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a gutter 5 of wood and of standard shape ismounted on a building having roof sheathing 6 and Wall sheathing 1. Myimproved downspout comprises elbow mem- -bers 8 and 9 and a straightmember I0 adapted to fit together end toend with telescope type endjoints. Each of these members is composed of Ilongitudinally extending,outer wall pieces II, I2, I3 and I4 tor-ming a substantially rectangularconduit and connected together with rabbeted joints I5 which may befastened by waterproof adhesive or by nails or both adhesive and nailsor by other suitable means. Within tlhe conduit, water passages I6 areseparated from each other by exible diaphragms I1 and an intervening airspace I8 extending longitudinally of the water passages, the diaphragmsbeing fas- .Y Fig. 3 i's a. typical horizontal section throughV tenedAin parallel grooves I9 by arwaterproof and elastic adhesive or matrix.

The Wall pieces and diaphragm are preferably constructed from cedar orredwood and the diaphragms may be made approximately T16 of an inch inthickness while the wall pieces are relav tively rigid and 4thick being,preferably, shaped from stock of approximately one inch` thickness.

Water is excluded from the air spacev I8 by closv ing the latter attheupper end of each member 8, 9 and I0: by means of short plugs 2U. Thelower end ofthe air space in eachL member'isleftl open. As shown, theelbow members` 8' and 9- form agoosefneck pipe bend, each lof thesememe-r bers'fmaking a 45 degree angle bend.. The pieces I^`I and I`2 ofthese members are preferably steamtreated to facilitate bendingl and arethereafter held in suitablefjigs` or forms until set inthe-requiredshape or they may be shaped from solid'f blocks.

the spout in all of the pieces II, I2, I34 and I4 as Well as in thediaphragms I'l, and all of these` pieces are preferably impregnated Witha suitable Waterproofing composition.

As shown in Fig. 4, a short, straight member 2l 'of the spout is'Vprovided for use at the joint 22- between the members il andl 9. quiredVwhere the gutter 5 is offset from the Wall 1 a greater distance than canbe spanned by the two elbow members 8 and 9. The female end surfaces 23of the member 2| are formed at the factory but this member is cut to therequired length and its male joint surfaces should be formed in thefield by a carpenter. This cutting Iof the male end joint is facilitatedby my provision of guide shoulders 24 (Fig. 3) on the exterior of theconduit which also improve its appearance. The carpenter saw cuts infrom the end in planes 25 extending parallel to the axis of the conduit,these planes being located with the shoulders 24 as a guide. Eitherbefore or after this operation, the yupper end of the male jointprojection is for-med by cutting the required depth from the exterior ofthe member 2| in a plane 26 (Fig. 4) which is perpendicular to the axisof the conduit and located by measurement [of the length of member 2|that is required for the particular job. This shapes the ylower end ofthe member 2I sothat it ts accurately into the upper end of the member 9and the resulting insert is used between the elbow members to adapt thespout for a particular building. By similar cutting of other short spoutmembers other adjustments of the total length may be made in situ. Theseveral joints between the gutter and member 8 and between the members8, 9, III and 2I may be fastened by the use of small nails driven intothe telescoping ends of the members or by use of waterproof adhesive orotherwise.

In operatic-n, water. ilows from the .gutter 5 into the main downspoutpassages I 6. and is conducted thereby to a place of disposal,v beingexcluded from the air spaces I8 between the da;

phragms I'I by the plugs 20. Upon the freezing of water in the passagesI6, the, diaphragmsI'I allow for the resulting expansion of the ice bymerely expanding into the airspace I8 without 2,353,113 i f j l airspace, the longitudinal edges of said diarupturing. They thus relievethe outer wa'll memy l bers of the excessive internal pressure whichmight otherwise be produced '-by the freezing."

As shown in Fig. 5, a body of compressible ma- ,u

terial 2'I may be substituted for the flexibley diaphragms Il'. Thisbody extends longitudinally of the water passages I6, vbetween them, andis adapted to relieve pressure on the outer walls of theconduit whenwater freezes inthe passages I6. The edges of the material 21 arepreferably confined in grooves formed in the members II and I2 and thismaterialris sufficiently resilient to return toits normal shape when thepressure thereon is relieved. Sponge rubber may be used as .the material2l when available, otherwise a highly porous and flexible brous orsponge material enclosedin an impervious coating 28 may be employed asthe compressible-means extendingl along the water passages. Apermanently exible asphaltic coating or otherv lWaterproof compositionshaving similar properties maybe.

used as the coating 28.

Ordinarily accumulations of ice rect the forces of expansion toward thelongi progressively increase in thickness from the inner surfacesvof.the pieces I3 and I4 and adjacent margins of the,

phragms tting in grooves formed in opposite outer wall members and meansfor excluding water froml said air space, said diaphragms beingextensible vinto said air space under the increased pressure' resultingfrom the freezing of water in 'saidpassages 2. A downspout comprisingsubstantially rigid, inflexible outer wall members formed from wood anda plurality of relatively thin, flexible and velastic members extendinglongitudinally within said conduit in spacedrelation to each other, saidmembers being compressible toward each other under the increasedpressure resulting from'the freezing of water in said passages. i

3. A conduit comprising, outer wall members of rigid inflexible materialforming a hollow structure and a compressible partition dividing theconduit longitudinally into separate passages for liquid and extendingcompletley across a side of each of said passages in Contact withopposite outer wall members, said partition being sufli-4 cientlycompressible to relieve pressure on said outer wall members resultingfrom the freezing of the liquid in said passages.

4. A conduit comprising, outer side and end Wall members of wood forminga hollow structure of substantially oblong shape in cross section and acompressible partition extending par,-

allel to the end wall members and completely;

across the conduit to divide it longitudinally into separate passagesfor liquid, said partition being sufficiently compressible to relievepressure on said outer wall members resulting from freezing of theliquid in said passages and the longitu dinal edges of said partitionextending in'contact with the outer side Wall members.

NEAL rr. MACKENZIE.

